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1 | ************ |
2 | Introduction | |
3 | ************ | |
4 | ||
5 | Increasing demand for high definition and ultra-high definition video, | |
6 | along with an increasing desire for video on demand has led to | |
7 | exponential growth in demand for bandwidth and storage requirements. | |
8 | These challenges can be met by the new High Efficiency Video Coding | |
9 | (HEVC) standard, also known as H.265. The x265 HEVC encoder project was | |
10 | launched by MulticoreWare in 2013, aiming to provide the most efficient, | |
11 | highest performance HEVC video encoder. | |
12 | ||
13 | About HEVC | |
14 | ========== | |
15 | ||
16 | The High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) was developed by the ISO/IEC | |
17 | Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group | |
18 | (VCEG), through their Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC). | |
19 | HEVC is also known as ISO/IEC 23008-2 MPEG-H Part 2 and ITU-T H.265. | |
20 | HEVC provides superior video quality and up to twice the data | |
21 | compression as the previous standard (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC). HEVC can | |
22 | support 8K Ultra High Definition video, with a picture size up to | |
23 | 8192x4320 pixels. | |
24 | ||
25 | About x265 | |
26 | ========== | |
27 | ||
28 | The primary objective of x265 is to become the best H.265/HEVC encoder | |
29 | available anywhere, offering the highest compression efficiency and the | |
30 | highest performance on a wide variety of hardware platforms. The x265 | |
31 | encoder is available as an open source library, published under the | |
32 | GPLv2 license. It is also available under a commercial license, enabling | |
33 | commercial companies to utilize and distribute x265 in their solutions | |
34 | without being subject to the restrictions of the GPL license. | |
35 | ||
36 | x265 is developed by `MulticoreWare <http://www.multicorewareinc.com>`_, | |
37 | leaders in high performance software solutions, with backing from | |
38 | leading video technology providers including `Telestream | |
39 | <http://www.telestream.com>`_ and `Doremi Labs | |
40 | <http://www.doremilabs.com>`_ (and other companies who want to remain | |
41 | anonymous at this time), and with contributions from open source | |
42 | developers. x265 leverages many of the outstanding video encoding | |
43 | features and optimizations from the x264 AVC encoder project. | |
44 | ||
45 | The x265 software is available for free under the GNU GPL 2 license, | |
46 | from https://bitbucket.org/multicoreware/x265. For commercial companies | |
47 | that wish to distribute x265 without being subject to the open source | |
48 | requirements of the GPL 2 license, commercial licenses are available | |
49 | with competitive terms. Contact license @ x265.com to inquire about | |
50 | commercial license terms. | |
51 | ||
52 | While x265 is primarily designed as a video encoder software library, a | |
53 | command-line executable is provided to facilitate testing and | |
54 | development. We expect x265 to be utilized in many leading video | |
55 | hardware and software products and services in the coming months. | |
56 | ||
57 | LEGAL NOTICES | |
58 | ============= | |
59 | ||
60 | The x265 software is owned and copyrighted by MulticoreWare, Inc. | |
61 | MulticoreWare is committed to offering the x265 software under the GNU | |
62 | GPL v2 license. Companies who do not wish to integrate the x265 | |
63 | Software in their products under the terms of the GPL license can | |
64 | contact MulticoreWare (license @ x265.com) to obtain a commercial | |
65 | license agreement. Companies who use x265 under the GPL may also wish | |
66 | to work with MulticoreWare to accelerate the development of specific | |
67 | features or optimized support for specific hardware or software | |
68 | platforms, or to contract for support. | |
69 | ||
70 | The GNU GPL v2 license or the x265 commercial license agreement govern | |
71 | your rights to access the copyrighted x265 software source code, but do | |
72 | not cover any patents that may be applicable to the function of binary | |
73 | executable software created from the x265 source code. You are | |
74 | responsible for understanding the laws in your country, and for | |
75 | licensing all applicable patent rights needed for use or distribution of | |
76 | software applications created from the x265 source code. A good place | |
77 | to start is with the `Motion Picture Experts Group - Licensing Authority | |
b53f7c52 | 78 | - HEVC Licensing Program <http://www.mpegla.com/main/PID/HEVC/default.aspx>`_. |
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79 | |
80 | x265 is a registered trademark of MulticoreWare, Inc. The x265 logo is | |
81 | a trademark of MulticoreWare, and may only be used with explicit written | |
82 | permission. All rights reserved. |